Traversing means for weapon-carrying vehicles of the endless track type



Jan. 3, 1961 s. E. BERGE 2,966,828

TRAVERSING MEANS FOR WEAPON-CARRYING VEHICLES OF THE ENDLESS TRACK TYPE Filed May 2, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 BERGE 2,966,828 FOR WEAPON-CARRYING VEHICLES OF THE ENDLESS TRACK TYPE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 S- TRAVERSING MEANS Jan. 3, 1961 Filed May 2, 1958 070v [P/A 55%;"

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Jan. 3, 1961 S. E. BERGE TRAVERSING MEANS FOR WEAPON-CARRYING VEHICLES OF THE ENDLESS TRACK TYPE Filed May 2, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Pate .TRAVERSING MEANS FOR WEAPON-CARRYING VEHICLES OF THE ENDLESS TRACK TYPE Sven Erik Berge, GyllenstiernsgatanZll, Stockholm, Sweden Filed May 2, 1958, Ser. No. 732,611

Claims priority, application Sweden May 6, 1957 4 Claims. Cl. 189-41 This invention relates to weapon-carrying vehicles of the endless track type, such as combat tanks and self- ;propelled guns, and has for its object to provide means in connection with the track assemblies whereby such an accurate pointing of the vehicle in the horizontal plane is possible that a separate traversing movement of the .gun or other main armament of-the vehicle relatively to :the hull thereof may be dispensed with.

In all known combat tanks and self-propelled guns now in regular use traversing is provided for either by having the gun or other weapon mounted in a turret which is freely rotatablerelatively to the hull of the ve- :hicle, or by having itvsupported on a pivot and swivelable horizontally through a limited angle, usually 20 to 30. With such traversing systems it is necessary .that the vehicle design 'be such as, in every position of the gun, to afford requisite .space for the elevation, recoil and loading of the gun andfor .the ejection ofcar- .tridge cases etc. The vehicle design therefore becomes .less compact and well-utilized, .or, in other words, .not so light of weight or so heavily armoured as the case would be if the gun had no traversing movement to accomplish within the hull. This drawback will be par.- ticularly pronounced in connection with a heavy gun with its bulkier ammunition. Furthermore, the said traversing systems offer very limited possibilities of satisfying a desideratum which often arises, viz. to provide :for mechanical loading of ..the gun from fixedjammunirtion storage boxes arranged .within the 'hull.

There are exceptional instances in earlier tank design Ein which the gunhadnotraversing movement relatively tto the hull, traversing being instead effected by means of the normal steering system of the tank. However, this method of traversing the gun is unfit for modern combat tanks and self-propelled artillery having guns intended for long shooting ranges and track assemblies designed for high speeds. The long shooting ranges require the traversing movement to be performed with :an accuracy which, as a rule, is not attainable with the normal steering system of the vehicle. Moreover, the higher speeds have led to the use of track assemblies with softer road wheel suspension than in earlier tank designs. When traversing is effected by means of the normal steering system of the vehicle the sprockets, :track tensioning wheels (idler wheels) and end road wheels are subjected to great vertical forces due to the track forces which have to be transferred from the sprockets to the ground in order to effect traversing of the vehicle. Due to these vertical forces traversing by means of the normal steering system will be accompanied by such compression of the road wheel springs that the traversing movement becomes markedly elastic and hence not sufficiently accurate. The compression of the springs may also give rise to disturbing changes in the elevation of the gun.

The present invention provides a traversing arrangement which is unaffected by the above-mentioned factors.

'ings, wherein:

mounted within the hull.

Fatented Jan, 3,

According to the invention separate traversing means capable of effecting a substantially non-elastic displacement of the tracks of the vehicle in the forward and backward direction are arranged on each side of the hull thereof and being movable into and-out'of engagement with the tracks to effect such displacement after the vehicle has been stopped.

The invention will now be described more closely with reference to a coupled embod.ments thereof illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying draw- Fig. 1 is a side elevation'of the body, or hull, of 5a combat tank provided with traversing means according 'to the present invention;

' Fig. 2 shows a traversing device on a larger scale and in engagement with the track of the tank; a

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line s 3 of Fig. 2; Y

Fig. 4 -is a longitudinal section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 'is a longitudinal section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 of a modified travet sing device;

body, of a-combat tank having on each side a track'2,

a driving sprocket 3, road wheels 4, atensioning wheel '5 and supporting rollers ,6. The huh I is adapted 'to carry a gun 7 which is movable through a limited angle,

such as 20 to 30, indicated by theilines '8 'and '9,'in'the vertical plane but which may otherwise be fixedly The hull 1 is provided on either side with one or more traversing devices 10 which are shownin greater detail in Figs. 2 to 5. Such a traversing device comprises an elongated vertical casing 11 in which a traversing arm 12 is mounted so as to be movable up and 'down therein. The arm 12 is guided at its'upper end in the'casin'g -11 by meansof a roller 13 and at the bottom portion of the casing "11 by means of two rollers 14. .The lower end of the traversing arm '12 is formed as a tooth 15 which, in the lowered position of the arm, engages thetrack 21in oneof the holes 16 for the .sprocke't teeth. -Mounted 'in the casing '11 'is a hydraulic "power cylinder 17 the piston rod 18 of which is connected to the traversing arm 12. Inserted between the bottom of the casing 11 and a lug 19 projecting from the traversing arm 12 is a compression coil spring 20. The casing 11 is articulated to the side wall of the vehicle body 1 by means of a trunnion 21, and is also articulated to the piston rod 22 of a further hydraulic power cylinder 23 which, by means of a pivot pin 31, is mounted on the vehicle body 1 adjacent the corner between its side wall and bottom. The casing 11 is made of armour steel and dimensioned to withstand a certain degree of gunfire, as well as to ensure, by its rigidity, a substantially non-elastic traversing movement. As a measure of protection against gun-fire, the power cylinder 23 also is partly shielded by armour consisting of a shielding member 24 permanently attached to the vehicle body 1, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and a detachable shielding mem 0 forward and the other backward, simultaneously as any substantial displacement of the vehicle in longitudinal direction in case the vehicle stands on a slope may be prevented by means of a special braking device (splitdrive steering gear without differential action). During rough traversing of the vehicle, as well as whenever the same'is driven in the normal way, the power cylinder 17 connected to the traversing arm 12 is relieved of pressure, the traversing arm 12 being then urged into its top position by the spring 20. When fine traversing is to take place, pressure fluid from a hydraulic system is supplied through a port 26 in the wall of the cylinder 17 to the upper face of the piston 27 therein, whereby the traversing arm 12 is lowered towards the track 2 and its tooth 1S-if necessary after its angular position has been slightly changed by means of a power cylinder 23 controlled from the same hydraulic systemengages the track in one of the holes 16 for the sprocket teeth. Traversing is then efiected by supplying pressure fluid from the hydraulic system through one or the other of two ports 28 and 29 to one of the faces of the piston 30 in the power cylinder 23. This will cause the casing 11 and the traversing arm 12 to be swung relatively to the vehicle body about the trunnion 21. The companion traversing arm at the opposite side of the vehicle is simultaneously swung in the opposite direction. The tooth 15 is so shaped as to maintain its grip with the track under the action of the pressure prevailing in the'power cylinder 17 during the full swinging movement of the traversing arm 12. With short interruptions for changing the points of engagement of the traversing arms with the tracks, the said arms being temporarily disengaged from the tracks by supplying pressure fluid through the port 32 to the lower face of the piston 27 in the power cylinder 17, the fine traversing operation can be continued stepwise through any desired angle without any intervening rough traversing by means of the normal steering system of the vehicle.

.The invention is not limited to the above described embodiment thereof, the same being susceptible of various modifications within the scope of the appended claims. Specifically, it may be mentioned that the casings 11 of the traversing devices instead of being pivotally connected to the hull may also be mounted so as to be displaceable in a substantially horizontal direction along the sides of the vehicle body. An example of .this is illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8. The casing 11 is suspended by means of two rollers 33 which are movable between two guide rails 34 and 35 secured to the vehicle body. For moving the traversing arm 12 up and down, the casing has mounted therein a hydraulic power .cylinder and a compression coil spring identical with those shown in Figs. 4 and and designated therein by 17 and 20, respectively. The horizontal displacement of the casing 11 is effected by rneans of a hydraulic power cylinder 36 attached inside the vehicle body 1 and of which the piston rod 37 is connected to a bracket 38 attached to the wall of the casing 11 facing the vehicle body.

What I claim is:

1. A weapon-carrying vehicle of the endless track type comprising a body, supporting rollers on the body and drive sprockets at each side thereof, belts of track plates mounted to pass around said drive sprockets, an extensible arm pivotally connected to each side of said body about substantially horizontal pivotal axes, means for extending each said arm downwardly whereby the lower ends thereof engage said belts, and means for causing said arms to rotate in opposite directions about said substantially horizontal pivotal axes.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the lower end of each said arm is provided with a tooth and said track plates are provided with holes for receiving said tooth.-

3. A weapon-carrying vehicle comprising a body and ground-engaging support members, a downwardly extensible arm movably attached to each side of said body, means for extending a part of each arm into fixed position relative to the ground, a pair of extensible means each connected to a side of said body and to one of said arms, and means for causing said extensible means to urge one body side generally forwardly and the other body side generally rearwardly to thereby efiect traversing of the body and a weapon carried thereon.

4. A weapon-carrying vehicle comprising a body and ground-engaging support means, means for changing the bearing of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body and a weapon carried thereby, said changing means comprising extensible means movably attached to said body, means for extending said extensible means so that an extended part thereof becomes fixed relative to the surface on which said vehicle rests, and means in engagement with said body and said extensible means for traversing said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,298,703 Havens Apr. 1, 1919 1,515,167 Penn Nov. 11, 1924 2,019,482 Barnes Nov. 5, 1935 2,378,945 Otzmann June 26, 1945 2,758,561 Cigledy Aug. 14, 1956 

